News Clips
Legislators, Community Members Urge Transformation of Colorado’s Mental Health System
August 4, 2021
By: Mental Health Colorado
This article was found in the Pagosa Daily Post
Legislators and community members will convene the Behavioral Health Transformational Task Force in August to decide how to spend $450 million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dedicated to behavioral health. According to Mental Health Colorado, this is a once in a generation opportunity to invest in course corrections, which will point Coloradans toward better health outcomes and more sensible use of health and justice resources.
Children’s Hospital ...
Denver’s behavioral health task force to convene in Aug.
August 3, 221
By: Dani Birzer
Article originally found in Fox21News
DENVER– The Behavioral Health Transformational Task Force plans to meet in August to decided where and how to dedicate the $450 million received from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Vincent Atchity, Mental Health Colorado president & CEO, said, “It is time for us to make a bold move to address homelessness, promote substance use harm reduction and recovery, and end the use of jails and prisons as our de facto psychiatric facilities. We have been systematically neglecting and crimina...
Colorado Isn’t Prepared To Deal With the Mental Health Fallout From COVID-19
August 2021
By: Shane Monaghan
Coloradans have endured a lot in the past year and a half, and mental health professionals are worried about the long-term effects of that trauma. Here, we examine who’s been most affected, and how local experts are trying to help us cope.
Read the full article in 5280
After major legislative wins, Mental Health Colorado scores lawmakers
July 26, 2021
By: Joey Bunch
Originally found on Colorado Politics
After a session that put hundreds of millions of dollars into mental health programs, some Colorado lawmakers surged to the front of the class, while others need remedial guidance, according to the state's chief advocacy organization.
Mental Health Colorado celebrated scoring about $132 million for new programs in the legislative session that ended last month.
Based on their votes on bills backed Mental Health Colorado, 39 House and 18 Senate Democrats scored 100.
Sen. Kevin Priola of ...
NEWS Mental Health Colorado’s Legislative Scorecard Shows Wide Partisan Gap, Especially in House
July 29, 2021
By: James O'Rourke
Article originally found on the Colorado Times Recorder
Yesterday, Mental Health Colorado released its 2021 Legislative Report, detailing the bills it pushed for during the Colorado Legislature’s 2021 session.
“Each policy priority positively impacts the well-being of our state and will help Colorado achieve healthier minds from one end of life to the other,” the report says.
The report contains a legislative scorecard, listing each state legislator’s vote on six key mental health bills passed during this session ...
OPINION: Mental Health Colorado’s Legislative Report
July 27, 2021
Article originally found on the Pagosa Daily Post
This op-ed is adapted from the Mental Health Colorado’s 2021 Legislative Report.
In 2020, millions of us were forced into isolation, and anxiety was at an all-time high due to the economic and health impacts of COVID-19. As we move into a post-vaccine world, we are seeing a secondary pandemic of mental health and substance use concern, and we must be prepared to deal with the increased demand for care and support. These needs are reflected in our 2021 policy priorities.
Our priorities in this ...
Garcia, Garnett Appoint Experts to ARPA Affordable Housing and Behavioral Health Subpanels
July 26, 2021
Originally found of EIN News
DENVER, CO – Senate President Leroy Garcia and Speaker Alec Garnett on Friday appointed subject matter experts and representatives of local governments and nonprofits to the subpanels advising the task forces established under HB21-1329 and SB21-137, legislation which set aside $850 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for housing and behavioral health.
The subpanels will work with the task forces to craft and examine policies to make housing more affordable, expand opportunities to build wealth through ...
CO mental health bills increase support
July 14, 2021
By: Jeanne Souldern
Article originally found in The Sopris Sun
Several bills focusing on the mental wellness of Coloradans, many of which garnered bipartisan support, were passed by lawmakers in the 2021 legislative session and signed into law by Governor Jared Polis.
The Behavioral Health Recovery Act (SB21-1371) is a $114 million omnibus bill, with $100 million coming from the federal American Rescue Plan Act COVID-relief dollars and the remaining $14 million from the state’s general fund. The expenditures, under this bill, cover a wide variety of ...
18 rays of hope for Colorado’s children | Vince Bzdek
June 27, 2021
By: Vince Bzdek
Originally found in the Colorado Springs Gazette
You know those moments when someone performs a random act of kindness out of the blue, and you say, “Now that restores my faith in humanity”?
The Legislature, of all the unexpected places, restored my faith in humanity a bit this year.
Not on everything it did and didn’t do, mind you, but on addressing the mental health care crisis among our children, they sure gave it a go.
Read the rest of the article in The Gazette
The long road to achieving better access to behavioral health care
June 10, 2021
By: Anusha Roy
Originally found on 9News
HB21-1068's goal is to expand beyond a crisis response model for behavioral health, incorporating more wellness and preventative care.
DENVER — A Colorado bill, HB21-1068, has a goal of expanding beyond a crisis response model for behavioral health care to incorporating more wellness and preventative care.
The bill, now headed to the office of Gov. Jared Polis, aims to change the overall approach to mental health.
Democratic Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet is a sponsor of this legislation. ...
